Dan Brown’s “Digital Fortress” Coming To TV

Though known mostly for his novels “The Da Vinci Code” and “Angels and Demons” which sport Robert Langdon as the lead character, author Dan Brown also penned two standalone works in which Langdon plays no part.

His very first book was the 1998 techno-thriller novel “Digital Fortress” which is set mostly around the N.S.A., the U.S. government agency which protects the nation’s communications and information systems.

In the novel, the N.S.A. possesses a powerful code breaking supercomputer named TRANSLTR which can crack every code thrown at it. That is until it meets ‘Digital Fortress,’ a code written by a disgruntled former employee. Said employee intends to auction the code’s algorithm, and will release it for free if he dies.

Now the team behind the two previous films based on Brown’s Langdon novels are developing a TV project based on that early work. Imagine Entertainment’s Brian Grazer and Ron Howard are teaming with 20th Century Fox to produce a pilot for “Digital Fortress” which has scored a put pilot commitment at ABC.

In the TV adaptation, an Edward Snowden-esque character threatens to release all of the government’s secrets to the highest bidder. The action follows a female cryptographer and her elite team who are tasked to stop him.

Josh Goldin and Rachel Abramowitz (“Outlaw Country”) have penned the adaptation and will executive produce the series alongside Brown, Brian Grazer and Francie Calfo.